GLOBALIZATION LIFTS VFX INDUSTRY TO NEW HEIGHTS AND NEW HORIZONS By CHRIS McGOWAN
TOP: Netflix distributed Girls from Ipanema, a Brazil-produced series about four Brazilian female friends in Rio de Janeiro’s bossa nova scene in the late 1950s. Sao Paulo-based Quanta Post contributed to the VFX. (Image courtesy of Netflix) OPPOSITE TOP: As of late 2021, the Korea-produced dystopian survival drama Squid Game was Netflix’s most watched series. Seoul-based Gulliver Studios supplied VFX. (Image courtesy of Siren Pictures and Netflix) OPPOSITE BOTTOM: Ragnarok, a Norwegian-language fantasy series from Copenhagen-based SAM Productions, is distributed by Netflix. Ghost VFX and Oslo-based Stardust Effects contributed VFX. (Image courtesy of Sam Productions and Netflix)
The growth and globalization of the visual effects industry has resulted in worldwide interconnectivity and a vast workflow spanning the planet. There is more top-notch VFX in films and series than ever before, boosted by the growth in streaming content, episodic fare becoming more cinematic in terms of quality, and a continued evolution in VFX technology. Demand for VFX artists as a whole is also growing due to the surging video game industry, amusement park visual effects and the gradual ascension of VR and AR. All of those factors have increased the work for VFX studios and the demand for skilled artists from Vancouver to London to Mumbai. Financial incentives in certain locations have helped globalize the VFX business for some time now. And the COVID-19 crisis further accelerated home entertainment demand and remote VFX work. “The pandemic has really kicked the globalization of the VFX industry into high gear, and now even more producers know what can be achieved with VFX,” says David Lebensfeld, Founding Partner and VFX Supervisor of Ingenuity Studios, which has offices in Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver. Local productions outside North America, such as many series funded by Netflix, are spreading work across the planet in both film production and post-production. Fiona Walkinshaw, Framestore’s Global Managing Director, Film, comments, “The streamers have made no secret about their desire for regionallyfocused content and how this feeds into their business strategies.
8 • VFXVOICE.COM SPRING 2022
PG 8-14 GLOBAL VFX.indd 8
2/28/22 12:45 PM
